National Hairdressers’ Federation calls for reversal of PAYE changes

The NHF is urging the Government to go back on their decision to make it compulsory for all employer annual returns to be completed online.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) has implemented a system which demands that even a single member of staff must file their returns online by May 19. Previously, employers with fewer than 50 staff had the option to file a paper return.

It warned that salon owners would be fined if they failed to file the returns in the prescribed way and in full using HMRC’s own free software to file their employee data.

The NHF believes this is a bad thing for small employers due to:

• the lack of choice
• the administrative burden and cost to some salons who may not use computers in their businesses, or have employees who can file their returns electronically
• the fact that Government departments, including HMRC, have a poor record when it comes to data security.

Choice about cheques
This comes shortly after the National Hairdressers’ Federation called upon the Payments Council to rethink its decision to phase out cheques by 2018. The Federation considers it important to offer customers choice of payment options and feels that this may lead to security risks with greater numbers of customers who are accustomed to the method paying instead by cash.